Acceptance and Truth
by 1337m3
Summary: Of course, they find and save someone on the street. The stranger seems to have more in common then they thought, and teaches one of them the importance of acceptance. Sorry, no pairings.
1. How it all happened

_I am not sure how I even got there. I only remember being powerless to stop them from hurting _

_me. I could not utter a word for help as they continued to discipline me. I remember _

_someone stepping in and saving me. From there, my mind blacked out._

/ Earlier...

Jumping from rooftop to rooftop was a normal thing for the four brothers, an excuse to go outside and see what was happening in the world above. On such a night, the shadows would aid them in spying, maybe helping someone here and there from a gang or something.

"I swear, each night gets more boring than the last!" one of the figures complained. "No more bad guys to beat up and us to play hero."

"For once, I have to agree with Mikey. Gang members are roaming around less and less often."

"Doesn't mean they're not planning something, Don." glared another. "Hun is still out there. For far too long we've let him slip by!"

"Calm down Leo. We hate him as much as the next guy, but you don't need ta snap at Don."

"Wow, Raph! You the look-at-me-your-dead or I'll-pound-the-shell-out-of-you one of us? Man, the gangs aren't the only ones changing." He dodged as one of them tried to take a whack at him.

"Nyah-hah! Getting slow, aren't we Raphie?" Mikey soon collided into a cable antennae. "Ow."

"What's that?" Don stopped. Down below, the cracks of something hitting flesh was heard. All four brothers gathered around at the edge of the building. Not unusual, people ganging up on someone. A few things different. The three mobbers were all dressed in black cloaks. Usually gang members would wear their symbols proudly on their arms or clothes. Second, they were using whips to hurt the guy. Third, there was something wrong with the dude getting hurt. Leo got up.

"Shall we?"

"That's my line, bro." Raph twirled his sais. "This is gonna be good."

The rest of them unsheathed their weapons and leaped down. The three hesitated and looked back. The person on the floor was bleeding heavily, horribly cut in some areas. He lay limp on the floor, almost like a dead corpse. One of the people, the leader by the looks, jerked his head in their direction. "Mayonaka. Jisatsu." his masculine voice sounded

The others next to him, a female and male from their body gestures, let down their hoods.

"Big brother is especially generous today."

"Yes," the male agreed. "He wants to see more blood."

"Your blood will be the one to be spilled if you don't leave now." Leo spoke up.

Black wings unfurled from their back and spread to either of their sides, as if they were going to hit them with their wings. Dark daggers cut at the brothers, hissing through air, as sharp as a fine blade.

"What the shell!" Don yelled as he narrowly missed the dagger. Beneath all their training and experience, a few of the daggers got through.

"Is that all you've got?"

"Uh, Raph! Don't intimidate the people with sharp weaponry!" Mikey shrieked.

With a snap of his fingers, the others stopped their flurry of blades.

"We have done enough. Come, let us go home."

"But brother-!"

Beneath the shadow of his hood, their leader smiled maliciously. "Now, now. What will there be left if we finish off the sad excuse for a god now? Besides, our work here is done."

With a disappointed look back, the three left into the shadows.

"Get back here! I ain't done with you yet!" Raph roared.

"Knock it off Raphael." Leonardo said sternly. He growled in response and glared at him.

Donatello put down his staff next to the stranger and checked its pulse.

"He's still breathing, but barely."

"Come on Leo. We have to bring them back to the lair. He'll die out here."Mikey said aloud as he saw the blue-banded brother slowly walk away.

"And risk exposing ourselves? How do we know he's not a spy?" he snapped back.

"Leo. You have to admit, even if it was just an act, they beat him pretty badly. And if it's not, well, why did they nearly beat him to death?" consulted the smarter one.

The oldest sighed and looked at the body, slowly watching the chest rise and fall with each breath.

He sighed. "Fine. But he only stays until he is well, then he leaves."

"Guys?" They all looked to see Don seemingly holding her head up in mid-air. Second glance, they could see a pair of triangle ears, pink cat ears. Now lying next to the man was a purple cat tail, skinny around the base and longer, thick at the end.

"Okay, so he ain't human either."

The situation was getting more and more complicated for Leo. Protecting his family and abandoning someone in need battled in his mind. He sighed again, more angry at the burden of now having to care for someone else now.

"Don. You carry him. Raph, Mikey, go look for the nearest manhole."

"Yes, fearless leader." Mikey gave a dramatic bow and ran off with Raph.

Don picked up the guy, who was surprisingly light, and carefully cradled him, fearing if he draped him across his shoulder, some of the wounds may open wider and make an even bloodier mess. Long hair fell down from his shoulders, caked in blood.

'How unusual for a guy to have this long of hair. Then again,' Don tried to think light of the situation. 'Could be worse. I'll never understand humans.'

A/N: Yes? No? Honestly, does anyone really read what I type down here? - ;;


	2. Wait a minute

Mikey poked his head inside to find the place deserted.

"Splinters not here. Where should we put him?"

"On the couch, like always."

Don put the frail creature on the couch and moved the hair out of his eyes.

"You know, I swear, if he didn't have a flat chest, he would make a pretty good girl."

"I don't even wanna know Mikey."

Much to his amazement, as well as his brothers who were watching the newcomer, his eyes fluttered open. The first thing he saw was four things looking at him intently. Even more surprising, he didn't scream or yell in fear. Instead, getting up and walking toward the middle of the room.

"You shouldn't be walking. Your injuries could get infected."

Instead of a male's voice, a feminine voice asked. "Where am I?"

"Wait a minute. YOU'RE A GIRL?"

She nodded, still looking at them curiously. "Who are you? All I remember is-"

Her eyes suddenly went wide with fear and started asking questions. "Where is Satsugai? Is that how you four are hurt! I am sorry! I did not mean to-!"

"Who's Satsugai?" Leo asked, interrupting her shrieks.

"My brother. He-"

"That was your BROTHER? The one beating you to DEATH? Gee, thought Raph was bad."

"Not the time or place for that Mikey." Raph wacked him on the head.

She looked at Don's cuts, who was closer. She traced the cuts gingerly, looking at all of there cuts. The girl drew out a dagger and cut her thumb, waiting for the blood to slowly bleed out.

"What the shell are you doing! You're hurt and yet you still-"

She placed a finger on Don's lips and traced the cut with her bloody thumb. The blood was acting like it was alive, seeping through his skin and making the cut heal. She did this to all of their cuts until they were fine.

"Cool! Can you do magic?"

"Something close to it." she smiled weakly before collapsing. She was lucky enough for Leo to catch her.

"Don. Clean and treat her wounds. I'm going out."

Before anyone could stop him, he ran off. Raph sighed and shook his head. "Ever since-" A shuriken whizzed rom out of the tunnel and sailed over the red-banded brother's head. He rolled his eyes and went to his room. Mikey watched his brother tend to the girl.

"You know, we don't even know her name."

"A...me. My name is Am...e." she whispered faintly.

"What? Aim? What kind of name is that? Ow!" Don wacked him in the head for his hot-tempered brother. "Her name is Ame. Ah-may?"

Startling purple eyes looked up at the two, slowly closing from exhaustion.

"Thank. You."

A/N: Short, I know. I gotta make Leo darker. Laying off this fanfic until I finish the chapter for Sonic the Hedgehog. Writer's block is fun! And I mean this sarcastically. It's so gosh darn frustrating!


	3. And So It Begins

The girl woke to be created by Mikey's curious eyes. "Uh, hi!"

Startled, Ame brought out a knife from her sleeve and held it at his throat. She backed off, adjusting her eyes to the dim light. "I remember you." She lowered it. "You and that other turtle. The one with the purple head-band and you, tended my wounds."

"Yup. That's us." He looked at her more closely and shook his head. "I swear. You look like a guy more than a girl."

With her one eye that wasn't bandaged up, she winked. "What guy would want cat ears of all things? Pink ones at that."

A sliding door opened, revealing the rest of his brothers. Leo glared at her accusingly, Don in sympathy, and Raph just raising an eyebrow at Mikey. The orange-banded turtle joined his brothers, now all eyes on her. "Who are you exactly?" Leo glared.

She stood up from the couch, wincing a little. "Amethyst Hoseki, at your service, master." She kneeled on one leg, hand over her heart as she said those words. "I am now bounded to you until you say so, or death claim my soul."

Their leader looked at her in surprise now. 'That was unexpected.' "By what right are you bound to me?"

"The right that you saved me. The law of my people strictly state that if one of us is to be rescued by anyone, good, evil, or devil, we serve with our lives, master...?"

"Leo, Raph, Mikey, and Don." he pointed to his brothers.

"Leo-sama, then. I am honored to be working under you and to be of some service with my pitiful existence." she said a little more grudgingly. She stood up. "And if you do not mind me saying, I hope you are nothing like the past men I have dealt with."

His brothers looked at him in expectance, as if asking "Are you really going to make this girl your servant?" He sighed. "You are free from whatever bonds hold you to me."

"Good," she breathed. "I am still under someone else's bond. Would be very difficult to work with two at once."

"Where did you come from anyway? You dress like a New Yorker, but you just don't seem the type."

She smiled, lightening up at them. "Don-sama is very observant. I used to live here, but not anymore. I am surprised at how much it has changed, and the people here seem more kind than before."

They all looked at each other. "Not really." they said simultaneously.

"So, uh, I am in New York right now?"

"Yup."

'They really threw me off this time. Exhausted my powers even.' she sighed and put a hand to her forehead. "This may take a while."

"So." Mikey leaned forward curiously. "That was your brother?"

"Half-brother really. Pure blooded devil. Me? I am only a quarter." She cocked her head to one side. "Although, a lot of people say they see the devil in me when I get mad."

"Much like Leo's."

Glowering, the turtle still didn't trust her. "You can stay here until your healed. Don't expect it to be easy living here, even though you're guest."

As he left, Raph winked assuringly. "Well make sure he doesn't get too carried away. Been like that ever since the final fight with Shredder."

"Not to mention," Don lowered his voice. "Kurai."

A disturbing silence fell. "Anyway," Ame saved the conversation. "By any chance, do you have a phone?"

Giving her one of the portable one's, she dialed a long and confusing number. "Hi, E-"

No sooner had she spoken, someone blasted on the other side. "WHERE WERE YOU! YOU PROMISED TO COME THREE DAYS AGO!"

Me hid it quickly under one of the pillows, blushing. "Sorry about that."

"Boyfriend?" They looked slyly at her.

"He is a boy and he is a friend, but I am guessing not in the same sense you three are thinking." The voice could still be heard underneath the pillow. After a half hour, the voice calmed down. She took it out and sighed. "Better?"

The brothers leaned in closer. "You promised to be back three days ago." the voice repeated. "Me and the others worked so hard to build-" it stopped.

Ame grinned. "Build what?"

"Nothing. When are you coming back?"

"When I find out how to get back. Your surprise may have to wait a while."

Something buzzed in the background. "Hey, is that Ame? Lemme talk!"

"You didn't want to pick up the phone." an older adult pointed out.

"If I had known it was her, I would have!" the shrill kid's voice pouted.

"Well if it is her," someone else sighed. "Tell her to come back soon. I can't take much more of this."

"After all the trouble I went to bring you back, you end up leaving without my say?" she accused.

"Seriously Ame. You have no idea what how rough it's been. Especially with-"

Someone slammed a door, the same person talking earlier now talking. "...Are you hurt?"

She bit her lower lip in thought before answering. "I ran into a few people going back," she chose carefully. "And they made me used a lot of energy...but besides that, I am fine."

"Where are you?"

"I can not say, you know that. Though, I am being held captive by four turtles..." she grinned looking at her saviors.

"WHAT?" the voice yelled.

"Dude. Amethyst. This was all _your_ idea, not ours. So don't _even_ try blaming us." Mikey said crossly.

"Can you not take a joke?" Ame shook her head.

"Just..." she could imagine him choosing his words. "Come back safely. Soon. And..."

"And?" Ame asked in sudden interest.

Though she couldn't sense it, the guy was having a hard time getting the last part out. "You better get back here, or else I drag our certain hero into this too." it ended up.

"Alright, alright. Bye." she hung up.

"Well that was new." Don thought aloud.

"Interesting. Normally, he would be a lot more concerned. For him to threaten like that, he must have been covering something." she covered her hand with a chin. "But what?"

Friendly like, Mikey swung an arm around her shoulders, "So. You live with all guys?"

She looked down at him. "Yes..?"

"Any in particular you like? Oh, say, the dude you were talking to first? And I mean like like." The way he talked made it sound like no big thing.

She blushed. "Eh?"

"Forgive our brother," Don sighed. "He gets a bit nosy around other peoples business. Although," he couldn't help but chuckle. "He isn't the only one curious."

"You too!"

"Casey and April are old news. But you, now have, what? Three, four guys you could choose from?"

She blinked, then bit her lower lip from laughing, face constricting to hold back.

"What?" he asked, accusingly.

"Four things. One, one of the "bachelors" is six-years-old. Two, the adult has already found someone. Three, he is a wanderer and could never afford to have to wait for a girl lagging behind. Four, he would never be interested, no less even thinking of a girl."

"What's wrong with the last two?"

"Let me just say that even if I was interested, they would be too busy for me, and likewise. Tell me again how we got on this subject?"

"Who was the one talking earlier? The one yelling?" Don persisted.

"The fourth one I was talking about."

"You're sure he has absolutely no feelings for you? If he's anything like Raph..."

Mikey ducked the blow from his hot-headed brother. "What about me?"

"Only that if he's the outcast, he may as well have _special_ feelings for you Ame."

She blushed, hair sticking on end. "No, I assure you he is nothing like that. Yeah, I guess he is like the outcast but, ...you really do not know him."

"Then tell us more about him," they leaned in closer.

She lifted a finger, as if to start lecturing. "No."

"Why can't you tell us about him?" Mikey pouted.

"Cause if I did, he would kill me. He likes to be known as the self-obsessed guy."

"I never want to meet him then."

"Why not, Mikey?"

"He sounds like another Raph." Mikey ran out of his brother's reach. "Heh heh! Raph's getting a lot slow-Ack!" His brother was at his wits end, growling and lunging after Mikey. "That's it! He's dead!"

Laughter echoed through out the caverns a long way, reaching those of their last brother, who was training in one of the vast caverns that littered the sewers. He scowled at the noise. "Idiots. They're gonna attract creatures, the last thing we need is a Purple Dragon gang snooping down here."He sheathed his swords and started walking back. 'That girl needs to go.'

A/N: Sorry if this one took so long. I had to redo it. Homework over break and everything. Leo will probably start appearing more often instead of running off, and his temper rising. Sorry if the gossiping sounded irrelevant to the storyline, but that was the only thing I could think of to prevent it from becoming a crossover. Splinter will come soon.


	4. What More Could You Ask For

Hours later, Master Splinter returned. Previously, he had gone to inspect the empty lairs for wandering rogues. Now back, he found all of his sons surrounding the couch. Curious, he wandered, smiling.

"What is so interesting?"

They gasped and turned back, shielding their bodies over whatever it was.

"M-Master Splinter! Your back." Don managed.

"Yes and it seems you have found something. Or someone."

Two looked down almost guiltily, the other peering behind to make sure. Splinter walked around behind them and stood shocked. "Well..."

Ame's ears perked. "Someone new?"

"Ame, this is our sensei. Master Splinter, Ame. Ame, Master Splinter."

"An honor to meet you." she bowed her head low.

"Yes. To you too. If you do not mind me asking, where are you from?"

"Not here." Mikey intercepted.

"Somewhere far away." Don joined.

Splinter raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. "Very well then. I trust you will take care of her?"

"Yes!"

He walked back to his room, tail flicking from side to side in good humor. The three breathed in relief. "Where's the fearless leader?"

"Right here." Leo emerged quietly from the shadows. "Where is she?"

"She's..." they turned to look. "Somewhere."

Four brothers looked around, slightly irritated. "Don't tell me she ran off like that..?"

"You guys would just love to have that, would you not?" her voice snickered up above. The lair consisted of two levels, by either jumping or taking the ladder up. From the second level, the roof was fifteen feet up. Ame was hanging, upside-down, practically mocking gravity, on the ceiling. How she got there, was a mystery.

"Weren't you just..?"

"When did she...?"

"How in the heck?"

And silence and her feat. In the dim lighting, her eyes beat bright purple against the shadows. The bloodied bandages around her body slowly slipped off, revealing no trace of there having been any wounds or bruises. She sighed in relief. "Much better. Told you I can do magic, Mikey."

"But healing in not even a few hours! We hardly even brought you here this morning!"

She pointed to her ears. "Not to sound rude but, do I _look_ human to you?"

"She's got a point there, Donny." Raph approved her boldness. "Even by our standards."

"Her genetic design must be complex if her body is able to reconstruct itself in a brief period of time." Don thought out. "There's no animal I know of that could possibly heal as fast as you. Nanos-"

"Are robots, programmed to adapt to whatever problems it may have, something of a living machine. But I can tell you, with all my heart: I. Am. Not. A. Machine."

"I didn't mean to offend you."

"I stick up for my friends, wether he is a machine or not, I do not care." she glared slightly, voice tinged in offense. "Any friend I make, I protect them with my life. Remember that." She softened. "I know you did not mean to offend me, but I am just making one thing clear. If you insult my friend, you insult me. If they should be punished, punish me instead."

Mikey gave a low whistle. "So if Master Splinter where to-"

"You are on your own." she laughed, jumping down from the second floor to the first.

"Worth a try. Anyway, how'd you get up there?" Mikey pointed up at the ceiling.

She looked nervous. Instead of answering, coughed once and said. "For me to know." 'He is going to kill me for that..' she thought.

"You're healed." Leo spoke up. "Are you leaving soon?"

All the fun and laughter died in her still blind eyes. "My eyes are not yet healed. But if you so soon wish to see me leave-"

"Leo," Mikey looked up at his older brother. "You know, along with everyone in this room, that she is still not yet capable of surviving out there."

"It is alright Mikey." she got up, already making her way to the door. "I know when I am not wanted."

She got up to leave. Her ears perked suddenly, tail flicking violently. Her pupils dilated and Ame's cat parts bristled. "They found me." she hissed.

The lair went silent, and the four now heard something close by. Ame's eyes flashed, intent and focused on whatever it was.

"What is that?" Mikey whispered. It sounded like it was hunting, and only carnivores hunted. With speed and silence, Ame scaled up the wall on her bare feet and hands. The sound of sniffing soon turned to growls as she grew closer. The growls came from one of the cave exits, clawed feet clicked against the ground. Ame was at the mouth of the cave above it, arms and legs tense and nails extended to claws. An unearthly roar announced her attack, ringing and echoing off the walls and made the brothers cover there ears. She lunged in the cave, wrestling now with the thing in it. The thing howled in acceptance to the challenge. The sound of flesh tearing and cries of pain was all they heard. Master Splinter came out, bewildered, but knew well enough not to say anything. The sound of the spinal cord breaking sickened them. After a few minutes, silence. No one dared spoke.

Red eyes flashed, and a blood covered Ame came out. She was holding a cross between a dog and a huge rat in her mouth. Sharp teeth in rows of no particular pattern with old and new flesh caught in-between, stained dark red from blood. It's body was furry, too long for it's small head. The tail was a large, fat rope that was cut off halfway. The feet were like that of a dogs, only dogs never had nails the size of a hawks or as sharp. The eyes were what scared them the most. Beady pools of black, open and staring up at them. Even if it was dead, those eyes mocked them with an evil they had never met before. This one was of a cold dark race, where hope was just some sort of thing that was just mocked, kills were for the thrill, and everything weaker than them was just their playground. She spat it out.

"This one was a scout."

"You mean that thing is only a runt!"

"Yes," her eyes still retained the blood lust from before. The deep thirst was still there. "The females are three times smaller than the males."

Her blood dripped into a small pool, some of her cuts pretty badly infected from the bacteria from the animals claws. She looked up at them gravely. "I am sorry to have you five mixed up in this, but now that you know, they will not let you live."

"What do we do?"

"You have to come with me now. It is the only thing I can think of."

"Can't you just erase our memories?" Mikey tried to joke.

"Even if I did, they would kill you to anger me."

"Why? What would happed if you did?"

"...Did you see, did you hear what I did to this thing?" How she was able to smile at all bewildered them, but there was a haunting effect to them. "You are lucky I was able to hold back. If not, I would be eating this thing right now. Or alive. The blood is more fresh alive." Ame hesitated. "That was only a taste of what happens."

"When do we leave, child?" Splinter asked.

"The sooner the better."

Ame picked up the rat in her mouth and ran off to dispose of the creature.

"Master Splinter. Are we really gonna leave this place?" Mikey spoke up.

"We have no choice."

"But it's her fault," Leo scowled with his arms crossed. "We never should have brought her here."

"Leonardo." Their teacher said strictly. "It is not her fault. She did not know they would follow her. What is done is done."

"How do we know that we can even trust her? How do we know this wasn't all just some sort of trap to lure us out of hiding?"

"It seemed real enough." Don.

Leo glared at him. "It _seemed_ real enough."

"What more do you want?" Ame stepped quietly out of hiding. "Would you like me to go berserk and start eating on its flesh in front of you? Do you want me to find the other hundreds hunting now for me?" She stepped into the ring of their family. "It is my fault, but the sooner I leave, the sooner they will leave. I brought you into this mess, I know, but for that reason, I want to insure your safety."

As soon as they brought only what was necessary and said goodbye to the place they called home, she used her "magic" powers to transport them into even more bizzare worlds. In the future times, some would be magical and interesting. Others would be filled with horrors. Acceptance and truth will be needed to learn of the real universe they lived in.


	5. This Strange New World

The transport had been this new experience they had never experienced in all of their passed adventures. The hole that surrounded them was warped in strange neon colors, but they in actuality were never changed.

Looking at their expressions, she smirked. "I guess you never saw this before."

"We've seen some pretty neat things-" Don started.

"But they had nothing on this!" Mikey looked around excitedly, taking in all he could.

"Yes well," she looked in front, "Depending on the colors your seeing, each color has a significant meaning to them. To be more specific, each color is a unique universe."

"Your joking," Raph said sarcastically, "No way all these colors can be different places?"

"You have seen other planets beside your own, yes?"

"Yeah well-"

"Whoever told you that there was only such a thing as one, single, universe?"

He muttered something under his breath. "So you still can't see?"

"Shapes, blurry." she answered Mikey, intent on looking ahead. Her tail was flicking in and out in agitation, ears twitching every other second. He noticed this. Ever since the incident, Mikey was given a lot less credit than he deserved. He was now able to sense the tension just by looking at the person?s body language, or even how they felt or what they were hiding. Ame was tense, like some sort of dog waiting for a sign. He shrugged and stood back quietly. All this in a few seconds, when Ame finally dismissed the portal with her hand in a horizontal motion. "Can one of you please describe where we are?"

"You mean you don't know!"

"Calm down Raph."

"Leo's right though," he hissed, starting to get very angry and being told to shut up. "It's _her_ fault. Those _things_ that followed her, she knew that they were coming. And now we're bein' forced to go into some other unknown place and she has no idea where we are!"

Silence. Ame had her back turned to the group, trying to make out the scenario for herself. Being oblivious ticked him off more. "SHE'S NOT EVEN PAYING ATTENTION!"

"Get mad at me all you want," she glared back. Her eyes contracted to bare slits like before, but with a more fierce nature in them. Being on the other side of the rope felt a lot different than just observing for Raph. "It was not my choice!" she heavily hissed out that last word, "I am sorry that you are dragged into my war. Have I not begged for enough forgiveness to please you? I did not expect them to go so far as to send them after me!" Ame sighed, shaking her head and looking down to the side guiltily, fist shaking. "How many times must I say that I cannot control their actions? Even if they are my younger siblings..."

Purple and orange looked at each other. "Um, were on a dirt cliff," Mikey put an arm around the girl and hauled her off to the end of the cliff.

"If I were Mikey right now, I'd shove that girl off." the red-banded turtle watched with something close to loathing.

"That's enough," Splinter tapped his cane loudly on the ground. "She has done all she could for us. You should be thankful."

"Master Splinter. How can we be thankful when she's the cause of all this?" Raph insisted.

"She said she didn't know they would be coming."

"That doesn't mean anything, Don." Leo spoke up. "How many people abuse us for our generosity? What do we ever get out of it!"

"Their gratitude, and you should be thankful, Leonardo."

"It only lasts until we're out of their sight. After that, we're nothing more than a bare fragment of a memory."

"I have raised you two better than that," Splinter spoke with authority. "We help when we can. Even if they have done some wrong, we cannot judge them based on the fact they are deciding to do criminal things."

"But we're tired of this," Leonardo argued. "Not everyone's like the Shredder, I understand. That they can sometimes be controlled unwillingly by a higher force. But by right, we shouldn't have to do anything!"

"It's none of our business!" Raph joined.

From there, the debate went along more quietly, tension now more heavier than ever. Mikey looked back down with a sigh. Ame sat next to him quietly, kicking her legs over the edge. "I had no idea how often you guys were used."

"Yeah well," Mikey held his hands behind his heads, looking up. The sky was strange dust orange, looking more like sunset than anything else. Clouds of the same color but of a darker hue rolled past lazily."It's been like that ever since losing Karai. I mean,

it's not like she died or anything. I think Leo just feels guilty that he couldn't do anything to change her mind to join us. To be one of the good guys and help her."

"So. Your Leo feels guilty about losing the trust of someone he admired and thought of as a friend. And he feels like there was something more he could have done to help her, but she refused?"

"Heh heh," he grinned at her. "You catch on quick."

She shook her head. "He has yet to learn the lesson of acceptance."

"Is that some sort of code your people have?"

"It is something everyone has to understand." Ame looked up. He followed her gaze. The clouds were swirling abnormally in a circle. From the corner of his eyes, the turtle could see her using the tip of her finger to make the swirls. Her eyes were surrounded by a white aura that meant she was using her psy powers. The clouds formed a face, but as he tried to make sense of it, it disappeared and turned to another. She did it three times. Amethyst smiled sadly. "I have taught a few, or they learned through another about that lesson. But your brother is much older. I will have to use a different method."

"Good luck with that."

"Sacrifice requires acceptance. Acceptance requires sacrifice. That was what I was taught." she finally smiled.

"Did your parents teach you that?" He was curious to learn why she was always hunted. That, and she was probably the only one who he could actually talk to right now.

But her blank expression said that he crossed on forbidden territory. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. "They were both murdered when I was small. No one bothered to take me in, so I raised myself, I guess." came out her quiet answer.

He didn't know quite how to respond to that. "So, you never had friends or anything?"

"I would not say that." It hurt to remember, but she went through it anyway smiling. "Friends, unbiological family. I never learned about my other relatives until I was fifteen and a half." Ame glanced at him, some color already returning to her eyes. "My life is complicated. I should go and scout ahead."

Mikey looked back to his family. "I don't think they're ready for you yet."

When he looked back at her, there was only an empty space. Panicking, he clung and looked over the edge. The ground was far below them, clouds of sand like a desert storm moving slowly across the land. Amethyst was barely seeable beneath that sand. Manipulating it by will, she cleared it. And spread her wings. She took off with a single flap, soon gaining enough wind under her to move freely across the harsh desert. She waved to him and flew off. He looked back to the group then to her worriedly. "How exactly am I gonna explain this?"

- - - -

They didn't notice at all. She hated to have to hide more things from them, but she didn't want to make it any worse than it was now. Ame found a spot along the cliff to land against. Clinging to it at a vertical angle, she "put away" her wings. The whole ordeal was a lot harder than it sounded. All she really did was shrink them so that they were small enough to not interfere or notice, but that was a strain on any angel. Turning something big to small in mass was a hard on the mind and body and required undivided attention. It was easier and a lot less painful to bring it out, summoning the wings was possible for any novice angel to do. That?s why a lot of the angels just preferred to leave them out instead of going through the hassle of all that pain. The girl twisted to look behind her back, "I wonder how I will explain the holes?"

Two tears in the cloth that covered her back. She sighed. "What I get for being so impatient."

She rock climbed the slope for a short period of time, due to the fact that she flew close to the ledge. On the last part up, she launched herself up using her footing. Mikey looked up at her, slightly annoyed. "Warn me before you launch yourself over the side of a cliff."

"Not like your brothers would care."

He looked up and down at her. "Yeah, their gonna start to wonder how you got dusty too." She had forgotten. Ame looked like she just came from the beach, covered in sand and some dirt too. The girl sighed. "Questions, questions. Sometimes science can not always explain the probable."

"Tell that to Don there."

She couldn't help but chuckle at the joke. A quick glance killed her mood though. The other four weren't not as happy, deception in the ranks, as they say. Splinter had long since given up in arguing and let them choose their own opinions of the situation. Don was slowly losing the argument a long time back and was solemn, sitting away from the group. Raph and Leo were needless to say unhappy, wandering around and investigating the plants.

Strangely, they were on a cliff, desert below them, but there was vegetation not 5 meters away. The plants were overgrown like weeds and strange blue and red flowers bloomed here and there. Leo was inspecting one carefully. She frowned. "Am I still blind, or is Leo inspecting that flower?"

He looked behind him. "Yeah...?"

In a flash, Ame knocked him down just as the flower shot out a row of poison glittering needles. The speed was so quick though, that you could only see the glitter right before you die. Leo, a bit embarrassed and angry, didn't see this though. "What the shell was that for!"

Mikey was about to open his mouth to explain when she held a finger to silence him. "Must have tripped." She looked him squarely in the eye. "It will not happen again."

"See that it doesn't." he growled warningly.

The girl bowed and walked back to her spot before on the cliff and sighed heavily. "You know, you didn't have to do that." the orange-banded turtle stood next to her. "I could've explained the whole thing to him instead of him hating you more."

"I could have. But I did not."

- - - -

By nightfall, the small team had some understanding of their surroundings. Ame had to explain that the flowers were poisonous, catching prey off-guard when the got too close. An evolutionary development, but she chose not to go into that. The bark of the trees were soft, unfit for any sort of weapons or equipment. The leaves and some of the roots contained a small sum of water, safe to drink unless the bugs were there first. Food was a bit more tricky. At certain times of the day, certain things opened up and could be accessed, but only for a brief period of time. She told them all she knew, making Raph a little ashamed at his outburst at her.

When they gathered what they could, they cut down leaves and gathered things to make a small camp, after being assured there were no hunters beside the plant.

"All this life and not one hunter?" Don couldn't help but frown. "But how can that be? Evolution provides food, there has to be something that consumes it, resulting in the food chain. If nothing is there to maintain the growth of this, wouldn't it get out of hand?"

"Don. Just leave it be." Mikey rolled his eyes, "Just be happy there's nothing coming after us for once."

"Yeah, but-"

"He is right, Michelangelo," Ame was hunched over, setting the little campfire ablaze. She shifted her gaze to the jungle. "This would be a paradise for any herbivore, and thus, any carnivore. Over the years, the humans come up with multiple theories about how life came to be, mainly if there are fish, bigger fishes can be found. This world is no exception."

"...I hate it when you get like that," Mikey muttered.

"Unless," her ears jerked slightly. "There is a slight possibility..."

"Please say no predators, please say no predators and let this end." Mikey prayed hopefully. Don was more interested. "You mean, if there was some sort of predator that only needed to feed at certain times, like when the vegetation is at it's highest peak. Question is-"

"Does it eat plants," Ame shivered with sudden adrenaline. "Or us?"

small little a/n: Sorry if I made mistakes or if the qualities poor. Dang computer crashed. I felt like a Michael Crichton wannabe writing all of Don's parts. I think I also made them slightly out of character, watching T.M.N.T. on 4Kids. I caught a glimpse of the hundereth episode and POOR DON! Looking at the brief summaries, Karai also made and appearance, as well as mutants and I got majorly confused watching the ep. Sooo, if anyone's willing or nice enough, can someone send me a note or something describing from what happened after Usagi Yojimbo came and visited to now? Sorry, but the ninjaturtles site's summaries aren't very descriptive...and please flame me. I need major criticism. And would you guys kill me if I had deaths (them and a few others) to get my OC's point across to Leo? Okay I lied, it's a BIG a/n. I feel so wierd writing this...


	6. Story Telling

Thank you **JediMasterKalta-74 **and **Tewi** for responding! (I don't wanna sound stupid but how would I contact you, Tewi? Please send message.) X3, I don't want this to take up to much space so...

- - - - -

_"Dead silence. The animals shook with fear, their gut instincts and mounting adrenaline the only thing that helped them stay awake. And alive, hopefully, barely visible to the creature. Like the living dead, slowly, red shot eyes looked at each of them with blood lust and hunger. No pity reflected in that cold stare, no emotion within its head but pure instinct. The instinct to **hunt**. Its head reared up and let out a howling screech, almost like the sad tune of a melody. But they knew better than to take pity on the it. The same thing that had taken away all of the safety they had ever known. The screech hurt the animals ears, making them whimper and cry out. Blood-filled eyes shifted to the pathetic noises in jerking motions. Still in pain, they tried in vain to run away, screaming pleas to the others safe from the eyes of the monster. Each of their little hearts pounded with the fear of knowing that soon, this too, would be their fate. They still begged, one small little hare, hardly a few weeks of age, reached out to it's own parents. It still reached as the monsters mouth started eating it alive, jaw dislocating to reveal a worm-like mouth snaking with its many rows of razor sharp teeth, all curved back to make sure that **none **of its prey **ever escapes**. It still screamed as it felt the first row dug into it's flesh, still begged for the mercy of this heartless beast. This mass of death was only pure muscle and weapons. Though no heart, it relished each scream the animal let out. Each struggle only let loose more blood to trickle down its throat like a fine, red, wine. The beast hunched over, ravenous now with the taste of blood in its gut. The rabbit let out one final scream before the creature finally ripped of it's legs. The crunching bones sickened each of the other animals stomach, some with guilt but mostly with fear. They've seen what it could do, what tortures it could unleash. The parents of the rabbit we're most in horror. Though having seen many deaths, some of them their other children's and once they attempted to save one, this one was the worse. Dead glazed eyes looked up with a single look "Why?", it's paw still grasping out to them. Blood surrounded yet another victim of this monstrosity, yet, so many other pools of the same dark red could be seen scattered along the grass, a reminder, that no one was safe anymore."_

The sound of crackling fire in the night accompanied the silence. "What. The shell. Was that?" Raph finally spoke up.

"And why animals?" Mikey looked slightly freaked. "Especially a rabbit?"

"Well, would you have preferred turtles? I can think up of a story of one, _special _turtlethat wondered a little too far away from the group...-"

"Ha hah. Very funny."

"What was the creature, Ame?" Don looked up at her. "Sounded like a wolf."

"What kind of wolf has a worm-like mouth with millions of rows of sharp teeth!"

"Only in your head, Mikey. I swear, it's those comic book junks that you read that make you such a wuss."

"Pardon." Ame grinned at Raph, siding next to Mikey. "I just so happen to read those comic book junks."

"You do!"

"Oh brother. Another Mikey."

"Miss Ame," Master Splinter thought over the story. "By any chance, is this from a folklore?"

"Yes it is." She looked over her shoulder at the forest they had grown so used to seeing. "Looking at this, it just popped in my head. I remember reading something similar to this in a story." 'Though,' she frowned slightly. 'For some reason, that story was much more gruesome than the other ones in the book. It seemed like it was some sort of warning, to stay away from that place.' Her mind suddenly clicked in alarm. 'Could this be..!'

"So. Ame." Raph interrupted her thoughts. "You never told us much about ya'."

"Veeerrrrryyyy boring story Raph." his orange-banded brother sighed heavily. "I almost fell asleep listening to it."

"Actually Mikey," she whispered, walking a little away from the little ring and looked up at the sky. The stars offered some comfort to her. "You did not hear all of it."

Michelangelo could feel his older brother's eyes on him. "You knew something and you didn't tell us?" Raphael hissed.

"But, Mikey's right. It is a long and boring story."

"We ain't goin' anywhere."

"Not like we can Raph." Don gave him a slightly irritated glance. "But seriously Ame. You don't have to tell us."

The girl smiled kindly. "Thanks Don."

"I can't take any more of this." Raph got up.

"Jealous Raph?" Mikey looked up at him grinning. "Cause she seems to like me and Don more than you and Leo."

"And if you don't shut it soon, it'll be just Don." he growled, heading to the makeshift tent he made. The younger brother just shrugged, yawning. "I think I'm tired. Night Ame."

She didn't respond, quietly moving away from the warmth of the fire to the more darker part of the cliff. Minutes later, the fire was put out by Master Splinter putting dirt on it. The lack of light and the blowing wind suddenly turned the night cold and lonely. Ame shivered, but let the cold flow over her. She had dealt with far worse conditions, living in a city alone could be worse than a night in the wilderness. The thought of a city, brought back so many painful memories. Flashes of friends, brothers, sisters, admirers, so many things had happened when she was there. 'When I get back, _they_ will follow me.' Psy powers granted so many things, yet took so much. By foreseeing futures brought the pain of knowing what would happen, the burden of knowing that you could've done something to change the outcome. 'When I die, I will come back to tell them that I quit and erase their memories.' Glancing at the turtle's tents Amethyst couldn't help but think, 'I could live with them, call from their lair when this is over to let them know I am never coming back.' A pleading face suddenly came to mind. She looked down sadly. "But he would be..."

"You should get some sleep." Don walked up to her quietly. "We're going to find a way off this planet."

Ame shook her head. "There is no need for that. I have recovered enough to send us somewhere else. Just gather around the fire in the morning."

He frowned in thought, crossing his arms and looking at where the desert stood deathly still. "When will that be?"

"Roughly eight hours from now."

Don looked at her incredulously. "How can you tell?"

"Because I have been here before." she whispered as she left the discussion, mind filled up with so many memories that chose to come out of hiding. He grabbed her wrist.

"Hold up. I thought you said you were never here before?"

"I do not recall ever saying those words." the strange girl chuckled. "You are ninja, yes? Lesson one: Keep an eye on those suspicious and observe each meaning with intense care."

The turtle slowly let go of her grip. "You didn't answer my question earlier. What was the creature?"

She stopped. "My guess is that you have never really committed yourself to a particular religion. But neither have I really." Ame turned to face him. "Do you believe that everything can be solved with a simple equation or theory?"

He considered for a moment. "Well, after what I've seen, it's kinda hard not to. But, I still think that most of the world's problems are able to be solved by an hypothesis."

"What about emotions?"

"There have been scientists that believe that there is a science to it, something psychological."

"Do you?"

He shook his head. "I can't say for sure..."

"Many believe that emotions can take on a physical manifestation in the real world. Imagine if that were true. That all of a persons hatred can form into this one mass of nothing but hate to bring strife to those who caused it to be so. All of a persons sadness, feeling nothing but pain in a world that has some good. Lust, taking advantage of opportunities. Oh, and let us not forget blood."

"Blood?"

Slowly bringing her sheathed knife out of her sleeve, Ame slashed her wrist. Her hand twitched slightly, but she didn't bother to flinch. "Blood lust. Think of all those killers, murderers, "bad guys". If there were no prisons or special hospitals to keep them from running around. Death would be an all to familiar sight. The blood lust in humans is especially powerful, killing one another for simple things. " She stretched out her slashed wrist to him, blood slowly dripping in a haunting rhythm. "This would only pile to the anxiety, fear, pain, anger, hate, jealousy, and confusion. It would be an onslaught of someone killing someone, a never ending cycle that can not be broken."

"But that's how it is in this world. Well, the _other _one. We all can't help but feel like that. I mean, it's not humanely-"

"Be careful of the of the words you choose," Ame licked the blood off the blade. "I should not talk. But realize, that the six of us here, are not what they would call normal." After licking both sides, she aimed it behind her without a look back, aiming it perfectly at the base of the blue poisonous plants. Cut off from it's supply of venom and water, the once great predator fell pathetically on the floor, not before it shot out a few darts of its own as it saw something to bring down with it. Her bloodied hand was the one that it struck on the back, the venom fast acting as the veins in her arm quickly turned darker and darker from the loss of slowly losing oxygen in the blood stream.

"Notice how the plant shot out, even though it knew it was useless?"

"That was only because it tried to defend itself from you. It's a normal reaction." He looked worriedly at her arm, now turning darker shades of their normal colors. "You alright?"

Arm spasmodically moving in quick jerks, she shielded it from him and tried to cover it. "I might have bit off more than I could chew, I did not think it was this fast acting."

"I could try and treat it." he offered.

"No thank you." She dug in with her nails, bleeding a little. "I would not want it getting into your body too. Besides," her infected arm tightened as she formed a fist. "This is nothing."

"Will your body be able to get rid of it?"

"Maybe. But going back to my theory, Don." With her good arm, she gestured to the plant. "That was in self-defense. Many believe that God granted humans with the power of mind by their own will. But with that power, came the lack of ability to sense things as normal animals would. They sense danger, and if the humans are lucky, they see that, but they can not _sense_ it. They have some, but not much to help them, and some have more than normal."

"But, how does any of this have to do with the plant?"

She smiled. "Ah. Now with the power of the mind to surpass others and demolish their homes, forests, lakes, He did not give them this, but was made as a result of the over balance in power."

Ame paused dramatically, half bored pulling out the drained needles. "Revenge."

"Well, that's gotten us into a lot of trouble."

The girl shook her head. "Payback and revenge are two different things. Payback is like another form of punishment. Revenge is when someone will never stop until that person is _dead_."

"So what your trying to say is, that humans are to be feared because of this one emotion. That in this realm of living, emotions could be the most powerful thing because it's the thing that drives animals and people."

"To a degree, yes."

Hesitantly, he brought down his staff and prodded the plant. She smirked at his precaution. "It is dead, if that is what you are trying to figure out."

The turtle put in down, embarrassed, but Ame noticed that he still kept it close to him to be sure. Grabbing a small vial, he used a near by leaf to drip some of the poison in. He securely screwed on the top, and examined the contents.

"Maybe I should hold that," she tore it away from him, "To make sure."

He nodded, then yawned. "I think I should get some rest, but-"

"I will take watch."

Nodding again, already dead beat, he made his way slowly back to his makeshift tent. Not long after, she could hear the flap of another tent, no doubt Leo. Smiling warmly at the tents and the snores coming from a few of them, she shook her head. "They all have a strong bond with one another, very good."

The girl unfurled her wings, jet black despite the night sky and moon. Eyes dimmed to a black red, teeth forming sharp canines where there were none before. Sitting on the edge of the cliff with her hands folded neatly together on her knees, she chuckled, almost painfully. Her voice went masculine, voice filled with cunning and cleverness. "Well, well. We _are _in quite the predicament, aren't we?"

Eyes turned back to a fearful lavender. "What do you want with them? You only come out when you find something interesting."

"Oh, but I _have_. That one with the blue headband seems interesting, filled with regret and anger." she licked her lips. "He would make a great pawn. If I can get you to get around to him..."

"He will know." the female Ame hissed. "He perception is unbelievable. Leo will know that there is something wrong and will kick me out to protect his family."

"Dedicated as well?" he chuckled. "Better yet, it will be a challenge manipulating him."

"_You will do no such thing_."

"Before I go," she brought out the knife, and stabbed it angrily at the infected arm. The blade went all the way through her arm with the end just barely sticking out on the opposite side. "This is for warning them about what was in the forest. And rest assured, he is very hungry."

The girl's complexion as she took in deep breathes, almost gasping for air. Sweat dripped slowly down her face and fell onto her bloody arm. Each little droplet stung and burned on her skin. She gripped the blunt edge tightly and slowly wedged it out. Each little turn cut at her more and more, making her want to cry out but bit her lower lip from doing so. If she did, more little droplets would fall and burn away at her. When Ame finally brought it out, she tossed it to the side, her breathing labored from the pain of the poison spreading quicker from her strain. She dropped her bloodied arm like a dead weight, and used the other to cover her face. Ame brought up her knees to her chest and cried.

"_Have you ever seen so much life in one place? An area, so beautiful, bursting with so much with life, that it seems like another heaven?" Smiling, he grabbed her chin and brought it to his face. "Do you want to know why?" She was too afraid to answer, sobbing quietly as she put together happenings from before, determining the fate of this outcome one horror at a time. "It's because of the blood. You see, most of the world is littered with many things with the dark, red, fluid that flows within you. So rich with nutrients, the true place where emotions are born. Your kind believes that the earth is alive instead of it being a dead rock, but really, more of a vampiric sort of rock. Whatever you dump on it, it sucks it in." The boy grabbed her wrist and gashed it with his knife. They watched it fall to the ground, each droplet forming a slowly widening pool of blood. "It won't take long for the earth to soak that up, And when it does, love." He smiled coldly at her. "This earth will blossom in ways never thought possible." Still smiling, he caressed her hair in his hands. "So whenever you see a place so beautiful beyond description, know that I was there." He pressed her lips against hers. The nightmare had begun._


	7. Sense of Betrayal

Thank you again. And to answer Tewi's questions: all will reveal in time... ;D

- - - - -

She wanted to sleep. She wanted it all to end. No one asked her if she wanted to bring innocent people into her problems. No one asked her if she wanted to put their lives at stake. No one asked her if she wanted to die for the lives that would extinguish because of her mistakes.

- - - - -

Ame was frozen to the spot, not wanting to move, not wanting to turn around and face the problems that faced her. Hand still over her eyes, her mind told her that it had only been a few hours since her confrontation. The wind picked up her hair, a cold breeze whispering down the back of her neck that made her shiver. The desert below looked alive as it danced and swirled in little vortexes. She didn't care. None of it mattered. The only thing that raced through her mind was the fact that they were all in danger. They had to get off the planet now. Amethyst tried to make a fist with her bad arm, failing and instead hardly being able to even lift it a few inches. Taking one more look at the scenery before her before she got up to wake them. But something made her stop. A noise, coming from the forest. The sound of plants being shredded and stomped on from an immense weight. Her heartbeats thudded against her mind, a rush of adrenaline as the noises came closer and closer to their little camp. She could run. She knew she could. Run away as far as she could and leave them there. Ame shook her head and ran to the tents, careful not to make too much noise as the beast already smelled the burnt wood.

The closest one was Don's. "Don," she whispered as loud as she dared. "Don!"

He didn't budge. Biting her lower lip, she whispered. "Mikey's messing around with your computer."

"Again?" he muttered, finally waking up. "Ame? What-?"

She covered his mouth and put a finger to her lips. He heard the sounds and nodded. "We need to wake the others."

"You wake Master Splinter and Raph. I will get the other two."

Nodding, he grabbed his staff and set out, hunched over and walking quickly. By the volume of the sound, it wasn't even a meter off. Anxious and scared, the others waking up brought some comfort in numbers. But from Leo's tent, Ame looked at the others helplessly. "I can not find him!"

"Of all the-!" Raph started talking normally. His mouth was soon covered by several hands. The animal stopped, a dead silence rose from the hesitation. Grunting, it continued back to search for the source of food. "We need to get out of here."

Ame scanned around for a hiding place. "Off the side of the cliff. It will lose our scent there and will be much to heavy to go down after you."

"What about you?" Mikey grew anxious for his brother and the story sinking in. "Is it like in that story you told us? Are we gonna die?"

Turning dead serious, she stared at each one of the turtles. "Go. Now. I will look for Leo myself. If it finds you, go to the desert and stay there and wait for us."

They nodded and ran to the edge, not without looking back at her in regret. No one wanted to ask the question of whether they would come back alive or not Master Splinter stayed behind a little.

"Please, come back safely."

The girl couldn't help but smile. "As long as I live, you will not die with me."

And with that, she ran to the side of the beast. Besides the cliff, the only place he could have gone was within the forest. What had compelled him, she didn't know. All she wanted was to ensure his safety.

- - - - -

Leo marked a tree with a slash from his sword to keep track of where he had been. Foliage dense, he had to keep one out handy anyway to cut away at it. He quickly hid though when he heard the sound of sniffing. The condensation of the trees in the atmosphere made it hard to smell anything out, but whatever it was, seemed to have an easy time with it. Green being his natural color, the turtle hid naturally in the brush. He kept a lock on which direction the sound was coming from, not moving to keep better care of this new foe. What distracted him was the feel of a hand on his shoulder. Turning around, Ame bent low next to him and jerked her head to one side, motioning to him to follow her. He nodded, not before taking one last look behind for the creature. It was gone. 'But, how-?'

The whole forest erupted in front of them. The animal had somehow came around to attack in front of them. Ame, though, had smelled it moving from place to place. Leo would smell it too as it got closer, but the smell could easily be remembered. The smell of decaying blood which seemed almost easy to taste in the mouth, and rotting meat that had been torn apart, only to be splattered against this living carcass. She hissed as it came for her first, her strong scent of lavender all over her body. "Run Leo!"

"What about you!" he unsheathed his other sword and took a steady stance.

"Forget about me and RUN!"

The animal was in every detail like the one she had described in her story. _The hungry blood eyes...a monstrous titan..._

Despite the dark of the forest, the moon shone through. Ames peered into the light. Something had gouged out its eyes. She couldn't think of anything here that could do that. Not even the red and blue plants with all their speed would dare to attack this. The time for thought was needed another time as the claws came crashing down on her with a tremendous force. Ame tried to bring her hands forward to catch it, but her arm still ached from the poison, a useless dead weight that may end up killing her. Jumping in front of her, Leo used his swords in an 'x' formation to block the blow. Even with the great strain and body pressure he pressed against it, he was being pushed back bit by bit. It's snake jaw reached forward, coiling and uncoiling in front of Leo, as if to mock him. In amidst all of this, Ame didn't notice that she had dropped down to her knees from shock. Leo grunted and tried to push back. "What are you doing? Get going. Now!"

She didn't move. It was just that one instant that teases everyone's mind, that moment when you yell at them to run or to move. But in these small moments of hesitation and seemingly stupid actions, the realization clicked in her head. It was taunting them. It knew the thrill of the hunt and if there were a few here, more were somewhere. It was only a matter of time before he would got to the cliff and see the others there. Something also told her, it knew something that she didn't. That there was more to the story than the simple matter of killing for pleasure. Her mind raced. What! What was she missing?

The creature was growing bored of playing with Leo, soon using it's other arm to knock him out of the way. Ame had caught him in time before he crashed painfully into one of the trees. He tensed, as did the creature, toying with him more. Leo could see this now, growing angry and frustrated with the thing. Everything had a weakness, there was no exceptions for this freak. Before he could charge forward, Ame put a hand on his shoulder.

"This isn't the time Ame. Unless you have some sort of-"

"I know how to kill it." her voice came out low, hair shading her face.

"How!"

"I need you to trust me, Leo." she took a step forward. "Go back with your brothers. The side of the cliff. Don't come back until morning and wait for me near the camp."

"What are you going to do." the turtle tensed for the sprint, still somewhat worried for the girl. Even if he didn't exactly got along with her well, he didn't want another death weighing heavily in his mind. She looked back at him, cheerful amethyst eyes turned into bored yet fearsome slits of red. "Something I do not want do. Something that must have been done a long time ago."

He nodded, looked one last look at the two, then ran. The sound of running getting farther and farther away from him excited the creature. It howled up to the moon, then looked at the silent girl with great interest. The loss of eyes made no difference to it, but the idea of a meal with far more blood and meat made the gouged eyes to bare more of the tissues were the eyes once were. It circled Ame, trying to see if she would run in a hopelessly around without a way out. Another inhale of air made the creature hesitate. The slender thing that had once smelled so sweetly of flowers suddenly turned the air putrid. It was suddenly thick in the atmosphere. The smell of dead souls, angry souls, that longed for vengeance. This level of smell was only able to be detected by those non-human or not of human beings. So how the girl was able to smell of this was beyond the thing. Humans lived for only so long and even then wouldn't even compare to what he was smelling now. Unless...this girl was...

It chuckled, the snake mouth speaking for it. **"So. Even after so long, you still live. Amethyst Hoseki."**

The girl stayed silent. Her hair turned jet black against the shadows, growing a few inches as did her body change.

**"I thought your brothers and sister would have disposed of a mistake like you long ago." **It licked its teeth in pleasure. **"But I guess I get to exterminate you first."**

Still silence. **"A pity what happened to your father. A real killer. He played with their emotions, tricked them into believing what he said. And when he killed. No emotions. Only the ones he'd prey granted them to see: lust, hostility, uncaring, pleasure. Why couldn't you be more like him than your mother, Amethyst?" **he grinned at his insult.

She started to laugh, not one of kindness or of friendship, but one of mockery of those who gambled with the devil. "Know your tongue well. Your master still slumbers within me."

It was the beasts turn to laugh. **"Why should I? If I kill you know, I would be killing you both." **It licked it's teeth. **"Then I would at last be free to wander other worlds instead of this dead planet."**

Sharp canine teeth grew in front as fangs. With those teeth, she smirked. "So. You want to surpass your master, eh? With him gone, there would be no one else to order you around. Freedom, the humans call it."

"**Freedom," **he spat. **"Freedom is nothing more than an illusion, and they have failed to see that."** Snickering, he advanced toward her. **"As it seems you have succumbed to this way of thinking. How low you have stooped to the humans level, hybrid."**

The last to change was her voice, a strange sound that was layered with another voice, a stranger and more deeper one.

"_And what do you think gives you rights to talk to me like that? Even without him," _she hissed out that last word heavily with disdain. _"He is nothing more than another host. Remember your place, Dorei."_

That was the name to break his calm mood. He ran straight forward toward the mix-breed. Dorei, his claws extended forward to her throat, smiled with his decaying teeth as the thought of such an easy prey. Oh how wrong he was. Her hands lashed out, deflecting his claws and grabbed his throat with one hand. Her head went limp for a brief second, but when she looked up, it was no longer the winged-angel. Blood eyes looked up at it. "How wrong of you to underestimate her, Dorei." came out a masculine voice. "It's not like you to go on an all out assault."

The creature was stunned. He knew this voice all to well, and always with it, a cold feeling in his gut. **"M-Master," **he started, half-choking from the man's grip. **"I did not know you were awake."**

"And what would you have done if I wasn't?" He glared. "You have grown weak on this planet. Yet, you persist on trying to exterminate everything you see."

**"I am only living up to my Master's wishes."**

"I see that." He let go. Dorei wheezed slightly from the pressure. **"Thank you Master."**

"But," the boy glared his eyes to bare slits. He flicked a finger in the air, and the creature went up with it. "I do not tolerate talk of betrayal within my clan."

**"It was a bluff!" **the monster's voice insisted. **"My plan was merely to scare her off."**

"I should kill you for that." Ame's finger curled to her hand, bringing Dorei closer. "But few are trustworthy in these times. I will spare you."

**"You are too kind."** Dorei's head pounded of the fear, though brought only by one person, was a painful and exciting moment for him. Though with a sudden grip from Ame's hand, the creatures arm was snapped in numerous areas. He howled in pain, a more jagged on than the ones he used on prey.

"But never talk about my father."

**"I understand my lord." **he tried his best not to whimper.

"Now tell me," the teen demanded. "What is of the others."

**"While my Master was dormant, Satsugai disciplined your bodily form while that girl was out. They are currently searching for you, to awaken you, my Lord."**

He hissed. "The fools. Do they think that a mere halfling good keep me imprisoned? Good, Dorei."

It winced at the name, growling in a low voice. **"They are most wrong."**

The teen looked up at the moon. "Now go."

The creature didn't even take a step forward before he tripped on something, the noise loud enough to be heard from the waiting turtles. "What was that?"

"How should I know?"

Small, black creatures crawled slowly up his leg, each tiny step injected small but painful doses of poison. Slowly making their way up its body, a clawed hand hovered shakily over the tiny swarm. The boy again looked through bared slits of red. "How stupid to talk of treachery and to even _think_ of going unpunished."

Gritting it's teeth, Dorei hissed out. **"I served you since my birth coming. Why are you punishing me if I have done no wrong until this one mistake?" **He lunged, gouged eyes ravenous for his master's blood. **"To think, that I served a devil of the lowest breed! You are an insult to your father!"  
**

The other just sighed. "Such a pity."

Both hands extended forward, he clutched them to form fists. With a sickening crack, both of Dorei's legs were crunched in half. The creature stopped short of one step away from the boy, and by this time, the ant-like creature were up to it's stomach. With a low hiss it seethed looking up at his lord. **"I should have killed you while the moment was still fresh, when that other weakling was out in your place."**

"That girl you call a weakling," he muttered coolly. "Would be more fit to reign in my place than you would ever be." Squatting inches from Dorei's mouth, he chuckled. "Just think of it. That girl that you look down upon, is more powerful than you."

The black insects crawled up his face, the poison making his dead flesh sag. The poison was designed for one purpose: to make the victim's tissue slowly break down from the inside. The venom had a special chemical, much like an acid, that ate away the prey from the inside out. What ever was left of the victim, was eaten by the insects. As they inched halfway across his face, a clawed hand from Dorei reached out for him. **"I will be back. And I swear, I will finish what I had begun."**

The insects were finished with his body, slowly creeping back down to eat the nutrients that was left. They buzzed loudly in pleasure.

He shook his head, chuckling again and wandered into the darkness of the forest.

- - - -

Ame was sleeping soundly in the dark, strangely warm place. She curled up, snuggling against her arms. The same form that had taken control over her earlier walked next to her, red eyes wandering over her body. So small and fragile in the eyes of someone more powerful than she. The knife hovered over her in his hands. All he had to do was let it drop. Drop on her slender neck. But something in him caused it to hesitate. The knife disappeared from his hand and he leaned over her body. Touching her hair, he whispered softly. "You've grown so beautifully, young mistress." He moved her hair and kissed her cheek. The once hostile master softened at seeing Ame's small form. "I have grown soft from this laying dormant." he smiled. "Our mother's blood must have influenced me too. But," the knife reappeared. He slashed her wrists, particularly the one with the poison. Some still lingered, and a little more blood was needed to be spilled. A small cut along her forehead gave a more effect of her beaten up. "Take care of this body for me. And take care of yourself."

The girl slowly disappeared, body vanishing slowly until she was no more. He smiled again. "More waiting." Chuckling again, his eyes turned to a jet black instead of the ones of red. "Slowly break her." He looked at his hands. "Yet, I want to protect her. You will not see the last of me, Mistress."

- - - - -

The four brothers and teacher waited for the sun.

"_How_ long did she say the sun was?" Mikey whined.

"Eight. Hours." Don sighed.

"Or until morning." Leo added.

"...Was that really Leo, _our_ Leo, talking?" Mikey teased below.

He didn't answer. The sands were turning orange from the sun, slowly creeping over the horizon. "Let's go. She told me to meet her up on the cliff at morning."

"Do you think _it's_ gone?"

"I don't hear anything. And," the blue-banded brother sighed. "There's something I want to learn from that girl."

"Nuh uh. No way." Mikey looked at Raph, pointing at Leo. "That is _not_ our brother."

"Knock it off Mikey. So are we going up or what?"

Leo nodded. "I'll go first."

The five slowly climbed up, Raph gradually catching up to Leo. "You okay bro?"

"I'm fine."

When they reached the ledge, Leo hissed. "Wait here."

"Not much else we an do."

Grabbing on the ledge with one hand, he unsheathed one sword, and pulled himself up, landing in a crouch position. It wasn't as it was before. The place was completely deserted, even more than it was before. The tents, the campfire, gone. Ame stood in the middle of this, waiting patiently. She blinked. "Where are your brothers?"

He sheathed it back and looked past her. The whole ground was trampled on. "What happened here?"

She shook her head. "I can...not remember."

Ame walked past him and looked over the edge. She chuckled. "How long do you plan on staying there?"

"Oh I don't know. Maybe when someone tells me if it's safe up there!"

Ame laughed. "It is."

Slowly, the rest of them climbed over. Mikey rubbed his arms. "Man, that's worse than Master Splinter's training!"

"Oh do not worry Mikey. I can think of even more exercises that can even that pain out into your legs."

He stuck out his tongue at her. "Your starting to be like Raph, Ame."

Red chuckled. "We need more of me than we do of you Mikey."

"Anyway you two." She stepped in between the bickering brothers. "Our next destination awaits us." Her bangs shaded her eyes. "Who knows what we might face? Through the road of life, there is no straight path. Adventure," she smiled eerily. "Awaits those unsuspecting.

Silence. "Your starting to freak me out." Mikey.

A/N: Thank you Tewi on the helpful insights of past episodes and for commenting on each chapter. There are a few hints in here that might help with a few of your questions. One thing though: I won't tell you where. And to those curious, Dorei means slave in Japanese and the name seem suited to him. I would really appreciate if people reviewed more on the chapters ; Now I have to do some research...next chapter may take awhile...sorry for any inconveniencies. And I really didn't check this one over so it may not be of the best quality... 


End file.
